Some Tips of Portrait Photography

I believe most of you are having digital camera nowadays and I think you must be happy taking pictures of your family and friends. But sometimes things can get awkward when you miss the shot. So, below are some tips to help you boost your portrait photography skills.

LCD screen

The LCD screen has been great help in digital photography. Do you remember the last time missed the body part when you were with film photography? Aren't you upset with yourself for not paying enough attention with your subject?

But you shouldn't repeat the same mistake with LCD screen on your digital camera. You can now see clearly every part of your subject before you snap the button. If you see the head is cropped, you can adjust the camera and get the complete picture.

Besides, LCD screen nowadays are build bigger and bigger into the digital camera and some LCD screen even occupied the whole back side of some compact digital cameras in the market now. And with the increased size of the LCD screen, you take advantage on the benefit to improve your portrait photography skills.

Background

I think a lot of you must have problem that the background steal the shine from your subject. Have you ever tried to blur the background before?

You can always activate the 'macro' mode on your compact digital camera, focus on your subject and you will get a blurred background picture. When the background is blur, you will be able to highlight and bring out the uniqueness of your subject.

However, there are also cases where the background can actually enhance your subject. However you might need certain skill to appreciate and leverage on the background. So, if you are not comfortable with including the background, you can blur it. At least until you have developed your skills.

Lighting

Please understand that proper lighting will bring out the details of your subject. If you are taking picture outdoor, the natural daylight will be good enough to make your subjects look good. Another tip for you is that when daylight is too strong for your picture, you can use the flash to shine on your subjects so that your subject will not seen dark.

And when you are taking picture indoor where lighting is always the problem, you need to be careful when you are using your flash. Because if you don't use your flash, your pictures will turn out dark; on the other hand, if you use your flash, your subjects can look too bright in the picture.

So, if you are using a compact digital camera, you can stand further from your subject (far enough that it doesn't affect your subject's details) and zoom into your subject. Then you will get a better picture.

If you are using a DSLR camera, you can always disperse the flash so that it is not pop directly to your subject. You can either disperse the flash to the ceiling or to the back of you.

I hope these tips help you to improve on your portrait pictures. :-)

Happy taking pictures,

Michael Wong. :-)